Affordable housing is not for the faint of heart

Rent strikes, lawsuits, city council…

Author

Christopher Ebert
July 05, 2022

New York renters are mad (shocker!), Blackstone is having issues with rent-controlled apartments (another shocker!), and California is giving out free money for “inflation relief” (seriously, this is stupid)

What We Are Reading

Rent strikers visit other Cook parks

Residents of Ridgeview Manufactured Homes Park in Newfane were busy over the weekend into Monday visiting other parks in the area, including two in Lockport and another in Medina, all of which are owned by Cook Properties, the largest MH Park owner in the state.

Ridgeview mobile home park tenants planning class action suit

The Ridgeview Manufactured Home Association is preparing a class action lawsuit against Cook Properties, the largest mobile home park owner in New York state, in pursuit of better living conditions. The members want work done on their sewers and water lines, identification and removal of dead trees and rehabilitation of electrical units around the park, as well as better snow plowing during winter.

Blackstone dealt legal setback after $5bn low-income housing deal

Private equity group says it is working to resolve litigation inherited with AIG property portfolio.

Blackstone has suffered a legal setback in a dispute with housing non-profits that are trying to seize some of the apartment buildings it bought for $5.1bn from AIG last year.

California sending out ‘inflation relief’ checks up to $1,050. Will other states follow?

An estimated 23 million Californians can expect a new round of direct payments to hit their bank accounts this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Sunday. The state is issuing payments up to $1,050 in what the governor called a new “middle class tax rebate.”

Rural Counties Are Booming, but Can It Last?

The pandemic and the work-from-home movement sparked an economic resurgence in sparsely populated areas as workers fled big cities.

Even in the face of inflation and the risk of recession, the broad economic prospects for rural America may be looking up for the first time in years.

American population shift: Census data reveals gains for West, Sunbelt

The map above shows distinct migration to the West and Sunbelt during the pandemic, based on census figures out Thursday. This race to the Rockies and Southwest in our work-from-anywhere world signals emerging powers in tech, business, politics, philanthropy — every dimension of life.

Nation Continues to Age as It Becomes More Diverse

The last two decades have seen the country grow continuously older. Since 2000, the national median age – the point at which one-half the population is older and one-half younger – has increased by 3.4 years, with the largest single-year gain of 0.3 years coming in 2021, bringing it to 38.8 years, according to newly released 2021 Population Estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Median age for most states also increased from 2020 to 2021, indicating their populations are getting older overall.

San Francisco to consider cutting affordable housing demands to spur construction

Resi development has slowed to a crawl, city looks at reducing affordable unit requirements, fees.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is pondering a reduction in affordable housing requirements to spur stalled residential development in the city.

Why NYC’s housing market is so crazy — and affordable housing is so hard to find

It’s easy to conclude from the craziness of New York City’s rental market — including that long line for a tiny, rent-regulated East Village apartment that made The Post’s cover — that what the city needs is more “affordable housing.”

Charts Making Us Smarter

Public Markets Corner

Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust Wins Kentucky Manufactured Housing Institute's Highest Award for Suburban Pointe

Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) (TSX: MHC.U) received the Kentucky Manufactured Housing Institute's (KMHI) highest award for Community of the Year for Suburban Pointe in Lexington, Kentucky. The 546-lot community that has an amenity package including a clubhouse, new municipal grade playground, soccer field, and basketball courts, was honored at the recent Conference at the Chairman's Annual Awards Banquet in French Lick, Indiana.

Recent Acquisitions

The Broadway Company Purchases Marlboro Village for $17.15 Million

Boston-based real estate investment firm The Broadway Company has purchased Marlboro Village, a fully occupied 102-pad manufactured housing community in Marlboro, MA.

Sun Communities Buys Southern California MHC for $18M

Sun Communities has expanded its Southern California portfolio with the acquisition of Bel Air Estates, a manufactured housing community in Menifee, Calif. Public records show a local private investor sold the 200-site community for $18 million. HARRI5 brokered the transaction.

Dotsero Mobile Home Park will sell to an outside buyer

The residents of the Dotsero Mobile Home Park had 90 days to rally together and make a multi-million dollar bid to purchase the park they call home. That effort came to a disappointing end last week when landowner Jim Condit rejected their $5.8 million offer in favor of an all-cash offer from an unidentified outside buyer.

Deals We’re Reviewing

Target Price: $11,500,000 | 3 STARS | 75 - 125 SITES

What Else Are We Reading?

Asheville council greenlights 77-unit, 100% affordable apartment complex on Sweeten Creek

A 100% affordable apartment complex is coming to Sweeten Creek Road, bringing 77 units with rents tied to 30%-80% of the area median income.

Governments need to encourage more affordable housing locally

Miami faces a growing housing affordability crisis: the Magic City ranked first in the nation in rent increases in 2021, with median increases over the prior year of nearly 50 percent.

Public meeting set for Tuesday to brainstorm future of mobile home park overlooking Lake Erie in Collinwood

It’s time for the general public to weigh in on a key lakefront planning issue: the future of a 28.5-acre mobile home community sandwiched between public parks overlooking Lake Erie in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood.

Couple Who Guided Mobile Home Park Through Crises Sue Management

The former resident managers of an Agoura Hills mobile home park impacted by the Woolsey Fire are suing their former employers, alleging they were wrongfully fired in 2020 for complaining about both exposure to the coronavirus and abuses by tenants and members of the public.

Mobile home park residents seek to take Fair Haven to court over water

“Residents of the Green Mountain Mobile Home Manor are looking to take the town to federal court over the water there having been turned off earlier this month.

City to spend nearly $1.7 million on properties for affordable housing

Evanston City Council members agreed Monday to buy a set of blighted west side residential properties, giving the city control of the site to develop affordable housing in the future.

BofA’s Todd sees new issuance pipeline grinding to a halt

In the wake of the largest interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve in nearly 30 years, the CMBS new issue market is largely in a holding pattern, according to Alan Todd, head of CMBS research at Bank of America.

Does affordable housing depreciate nearby property values?

While prices at grocery stores and gas stations have most of us tightening our purse strings as inflation hits record highs, it’s the rapidly increasing housing costs that will have the most repercussions on the working class.

Video Gallery

CA law upheld requiring property owners to pay 1 month's rent to tenants being evicted | Watch Video ▶

Roanoke’s Section 8 public housing is full amid national affordable housing crisis | Watch Video ▶

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